Blockbuster CEO Was Offered Netflix for $50 Million. He Barely Contained His Laughter and Said No. Netflix Is Now Worth $400 Billion. Blockbuster Has One Store Left.

In 2000, Netflix co-founders Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph flew to Dallas to meet with Blockbuster CEO John Antioco. Their pitch: Blockbuster would acquire Netflix for $50 million, and Netflix would run Blockbuster's online brand. According to Randolph's memoir, Antioco "barely contained his laughter" at the proposal. Netflix was losing money, had just 300,000 subscribers, and Blockbuster had 9,000 stores and 65 million members. Why would they need these guys? Fast forward: Netflix pioneered streaming, crushed the DVD rental business, and is now worth over $400 billion. Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010. Today, exactly one Blockbuster store remains — in Bend, Oregon — operating mostly as a tourist attraction. The $50 million Antioco laughed at would now be worth roughly 8,000x that amount. Sometimes the dot-com "hysteria" is just the future arriving early.